Siege of Power strikes again.
Formed in 2013 under the name First Class Elite, the band stopped the following year to better return in 2017 under its current moniker, then signed to Metal Blade Records for a debut album in 2018.
In 2023, Chris Reifert (vocals, Autopsy, Static Abyss, ex-Death), Paul Baayens (guitar, Asphyx, Thanatos, ex-Hail of Bullets), Theo van Eekelen (bass, Grand Supreme Blood Court, ex-Hail of Bullets, ex-Houwitser, ex-Thanatos) and Bob Bagchus (drums, Grand Supreme Blood Court, Infidel Reich, ex-Asphyx, ex-Soulburn) announced the release of This Is Tomorrow.
Force Fed Fear, the first track, directly places an aggressive and explosive Old School Death/Thrash’s rawest elements which obviously recalls influences from the members’ other bands. The chorus is incredibly catchy while remaining in these abrasive tones, and it will be the same for Sinister Christians, which places more melodic leads in the wave of dissonant and energetic violence. The vocalist’s hatred is definitely unleashed in his screams while Scavengers offers a heavier, more jerky but also more accessible rhythmic, mixing influences with more Punk roots before speeding up again on Zero Containment, a track going back to pure rage. Blasts and sharp riffs make this short song one of the best to break your neck with unleashed musicians, then Ghosts of Humanity comes back to weigh the rhythm down, letting melancholic leads feed the heavy atmosphere before accelerating again with vindictive screams. As the World Crumbles offers a dark and disturbing sound which does not hesitate to place slow, simple and clean riffs before calling saturation back to take advantage of its heaviness, but Oblivion will reanimate the sharpest and most morbid elements by also dipping into Black/Death. The track fully respects the Old School codes, and it will be followed by Deeper Wound which couples dissonance and dark influences with a simple but extremely catchy rhythmic pattern. The atmosphere stays very heavy until this long track’s last moment, then it will give way to The Devil’s Grasp and its devastating Old School aggression with jerky Thrash roots, but No Salvation quickly takes the reins to add weight to the catchy and thick riffs. Whether it’s on a fast tempo or a heavier one, the song exactly knows what to do to be the album’s most effective one, and it will give way to This Is Tomorrow, an extremely eerie composition which lets the dark and worrying harmonics reign over this landscape hammered by heavy riffs.
If you only like clean mixes, you will hate Siege of Power. But if you like dirty Death Metal, energetic Thrash and even hints of Black or Doom, This Is Tomorrow will be in this year’s favorites for you.
95/100